


On The Falling of Icarus

by Yellowisrad



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Crowley character analysis, Crowley projects onto the story of Icarus cause I say so, Gen, Introspection, Sort Of, icarus imagery, one (1) mention of Aziraphale, tagging is hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-30 17:07:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19407649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yellowisrad/pseuds/Yellowisrad
Summary: There was a boy who flew to the Sun on wings made of wax, the sun decided to punish him, burning the fragile wax wings right off his body.OrCrowley knows of Hubris, the temptation that fueled Icarus’ fiery descent into Death for daring to question God, he’s had a similar experience





	On The Falling of Icarus

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoy this super self indulgent story (I’m a slut for Icarus imagery) Comments are nice and greatly appreciated!

There was a boy who flew to the Sun on wings made of wax. Higher and higher he went, oxygen being stripped from his body but desire keeping him spiraling upwards. He was a fabricated angel, wings glowing ethereally. In this story, the wings glowed with heat, groaning and trembling under the boy’s weight. Earth became a small speck to him and the sun decided to punish him, burning the fragile wax wings right off his body, sending him tumbling mercilessly into the sea below.

The boy was named Icarus. He had a father who begged him not to fly so high. They had just escaped imprisonment from a Labyrinth. He was free. What more could he want?

This was a story about Hubris. Excessive pride that makes one believe they are able to question God, that they could be God. It is a sin not only limited to humanity.

Many scoffed at the boy Icarus. How stupid and foolish he was. To believe he could reach God, that he could soar through the sky and feel galaxies on his skin. He was already free. What more could he possibly want.

Crowley stopped breathing when he heard the story for the first time. The lack of oxygen made his throat burn and he remembered _Falling_.

_Icarus was already free_ , the story teller told the crowd with complacency in his voice, _What more could he possibly want?_

Crowley was truly never free, he had learned this lesson through millennia of punishment. If he was truly free, he wouldn’t have been cast out for asking questions. Yet, being an angel, weaving through the sky, was the closest thing to freedom.

To Icarus, it probably was complete freedom.

Icarus was an ingenious inventor, flirting with sin. He created wings of wax that were able to carry him to the face of God. It reeks of greed and pride and lust and a small part of him knows he should report that it was him who tempted Icarus to face God.

It feels insulting to the memory of Icarus somehow. Especially since the story resonates so deeply with him.

He knows what it is like to be at the top of the world one second and the next plunging mercilessly downward in a spiral of flaming agony. He knows what it’s like to be burnt and turned to ash.

Aziraphale sitting next to him, already engrossed in the next tale to storyteller was spinning, would claim it was _ineffable_ while not quite meeting his eyes. Any angel would drop the matter right there. The Almighty willed for Icarus to die in the sea as his wings failed him and if it was Her will, then it must be Right. Crowley is no angel. Perhaps She was displeased by Icarus’ curiosity and disobedience. Humans were not fitted to dwell in the atmosphere any more than Angels belonged in pits of hell fire. Icarus dared to ask Why.

_Foolish kid_ , Crowley thought, bitterness a metallic tang in his mouth, _Asking Why is the greatest sin of all._

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I know Daedalus was the inventor in the original myth, but the myths were changed slightly as they were told by word of mouth. And I just really wanted to make Icarus the inventor.


End file.
